The India Elects Fellowship of the Indian School of Democracy is a platform for youngsters to actively engage in the electoral process, experience the Lok Sabha elections exercise and contribute in building a resilient democracy.
As India awaits the world’s largest democratic exercise, the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the political atmosphere in the country is charged up. The electorate has in its hands the opportunity to shape the outlook of Indian democracy for the years to come.
As an active stakeholder in democracy, Indian School of Democracy (ISD) has introduced the India Elects Fellowship. It is an initiative to support the candidates who are contesting the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 and who believe in service in politics and live by India’s constitutional and democratic values. It is also a platform for young passionate Indian citizens to actively engage in the electoral process, experience the elections exercise and contribute in building a resilient democracy.
The programme involves 10 Member of Parliament candidates and 50 fellows from across the geographical and political spectrum. Each candidate will have 5 fellows to support them in their election campaign for a period of three months. The fellows will move to the respective constituency and contribute in various activities like campaign management, gathering political intelligence, designing crowdfunding campaigns, implementing public engagement initiatives, social media and public relations management, logistics and other things that a candidate may require support for.
Through the fellowship, passionate individuals from various backgrounds such as working professionals, graduate students and social activists will get a direct exposure of working with a MP candidate and first-hand experience of electoral politics. Given the interconnected nature of work, having an understanding of political and social undercurrents of the society at the grassroots can help in forming solid perspectives for any individual irrespective of the profession.
At a time when everything is politicised and politics is in everything, it calls for an immediate need for the citizens to not be passive but active stakeholders in Indian democracy. This fellowship seeks to be that platform for the youth to develop a community of citizens who will take on themselves the responsibility to positively re-shape the democracy for the present society and the generations to come.
Click here to apply and know more about the structure and logistics of the fellowship:
Last date to apply: 25 December 2023
The lead image at the top shows participants engaged in sessions in a flagship programme (Photo courtesy ISD)
Jatan Bhanvadiya is a team member at Indian School of Democracy, working in the outreach vertical. He is an ex-LAMP fellow.
